Evaluation

In what ways does your
media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?

•The
frames I have chosen to put into my grid have been chosen because they show
different camera shots, titles and editing in some way. The first frame I have
chosen is the title for my sequence, it shows the font and style of the text
which fits nicely with the theme of teenage sports.

•The
second frame I have chosen is a shot showing an aspect of the game itself and
introduces one of the characters roles and shows how he is represented within
the film.

•The
third frame I have chosen introduces the second character and represents him as
the weaker player which is clearly shown within the sequence itself. This shot
also helps us to understand that the other character is the better player.

•The
fourth frame shows a different, exciting new camera angle, the shot again
represents the character as good and possibly powerful. The shot is clever
because it shows the vibrant colours of the ball and the players boots as well as
showing the surroundings and the blue sky.

•The
fifth frame I have chosen is from the start of my sequence, it again shows the
characters but this time together. It represents them both as being equal as
each other but as the sequence progresses this changes and as is represented in
some other frames. This frame also shows the setting well.

•The
sixth frame I have chosen shows the weakness and inability of one of the
characters but the position of the ball shows the skill of the other player
without him needing to be in the shot at all.

•The
seventh frame I have chosen shows an example of a title, the same font is used
as in the film title but is slightly smaller. This shows to the audience that
when they see the larger font they will think of importance and excellence.

•The
eighth frame I have chosen is another example of a different camera angle and
shot, it shows the perspective of the goal keeper and the accuracy of the kick
taker.

•The
ninth frame I have chosen introduces the roles of the characters. It shows one
of the characters running towards the goal and the other preparing to take a
shot.

I have used other media conventions and stereotypes in my production by having actors that are aged 17 and are male. This is a key convention and stereotype of young males that is used throughout other media products. The costumes show strong conventions of other media products by clearly showing they are part of a football team. The camera work shows different points of view that we would not usually see so takes the audience out of a normal conventional view and into a place that is new and exciting. The football again in ways uses conventions of major football leagues in that the ball is a bright vibrant colour, this again with the footballers boots that are bright orange which is what we would expect to see from famous football players. The editing takes the audience out of the usual convention of a slow paced game into a fast paced game of quick shot transitions and a lot of action. The fonts that I have used are conventional for a college or teenage sport, it is the type of font that we would expect to see from a teenage sports film or team. The characters are both introduced at the same time in the film, this may follow certain conventions of films that the two main characters are introduced together but in some films we also expect to see the 'underdog' or weaker character first so that when we see the stronger character we see him as even more powerful over the other.

How does your media
product represent particular social groups?

My media production
represents teenage boys as football fanatics and this is a stereotype of
teenage boys that they enjoy to play football. The stereotype is carried on in
the way that the characters are dressed, trying to uphold an excellent
appearance and being proud to wear the kit for the team they play for. The kit
for the characters is similar to to ones represented in the media, in the media
and professionally players often wear bright coloured boots and I have tried to
use this in my film by getting one of characters to wear orange boots. The
posture, position and stances of the characters are also based on those of ones
represented in the media and which you would expect to see in a professional
game on the television, which is part of the media.

The characters in my film are similar to ones in other media products by the way they are dressed and also the actions and positions that they do. The costumes of the characters to those represented in other media products are not that dissimilar, i have tried to copy some professional footballers kit as the white shirts are similar with small bits of red and black on. the socks and boots are also similar in colour. The haircuts are also similar with them both being slightly long, however this is not the same for all football players.

What kind of media institution would
distribute my product and

why?

Film 4 would
be most likely to distribute my media production because it fits with the
genres of film that Film 4 shows. Film 4 showcases a wide range of genres and
style of films ranging from Hollywood Blockbusters to foreign films. My film
will fit in the genre of action and adventure and this is one of the key genres
shown on Film 4.

Film 4 shows
a variety of old classic films of all different styles and from across the
globe, but they also show modern, popular films such as ‘127 Hours’, ‘The Day
The Earth Stood Still’ and ‘Home Alone’. All of these films fit in with the
genre of my film in some way. Other examples of football films shown on Film 4
are ‘Escape To Victory’, ‘One In a Lifetime’ and ‘The Football Factory’. This
shows that my film would fit in nicely with the films already shown on Film 4.

My film would be a Film 4 film because the films shown on film 4 are generally aimed at a younger audience which fits with the audience for my film. Film 4 also show lots of other football films although some of the ones they show are about football hooligans this in a way can be related to my film. The football films about hooligans are showing some underdogs and a battle to be the best and fight for their team, my film is about a battle of an individual to become the best that he possibly can and beat everyone else. Although the two do not directly relate the deeper messages of them fit together. Film 4 does not only football films about hooligans it also shows normal football films that just follow a team possibly through a struggle. Therefore the only thing that Film 4 does not have in terms of football films is a film following an individual in his attempt and fight to make his way to the top, this is where my film fits in. Also Film 4 does not show major blockbuster films which means my independent film would be accepted and aired by Film 4 because this is the style of film that they show.

How did you attract/address your
audience?

My film attracts the audience that I am aiming my film towards because most teenage boys will like football and enjoy to watch it. They will usually follow a team that they support and have seen them fighting for victory and possibly struggling in difficult times, my film will give them this but flip it so that they are not watching a team they are watching one person. This makes it more personal and the audience can feel emotion for the character which teenagers like, they like to be able to relate to the character. Because my film is aimed at teenage football fans they may also play for a team themselves and therefore can relate to the character more than other people, they can understand the emotions and thoughts behind it. However they will also want to see that the film follows certain conventions as in the props and way that the characters are dressed so i have used conventions from other media products in my film. Teenagers would not like a film that is the same as every other film but they would also not like a film that is completely different and flips everything that they know about football on its head.

Looking back at your
preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I learnt how to use Final
Cut Express to a good level to allow me to easily manage my filming scenes and
put them together in a way that was effective and looked professional. I was
able to cut scenes, change the length of scenes and overlap scenes. This was
essential because having to film all of the shots as I needed them would have
been impossible. I was able to put lots of fast paced scenes together where
quick transitions were needed to create the effect that I wanted, I also
learnt how to edit the speed of certain scenes, this was mostly used within
the preliminary task scene but it had made me more confident to test different
speeds with my main task. I had also learnt to add music to my film and adjust
the volume and being able to cut out certain bits of sound that were not
needed. Sound effects were able to be added and the sound made slightly louder
to highlight certain sounds, such as the ball being kicked. This was essential
because music and foley play a huge part in the production of films.

I had also learnt how to
use Live Type which is what I used to create my titles, I was able to add
effects, adjust speed, sizes, font and colour. This was an extremely useful tool and works
alongside Final Cut Express so it is easy to import them and render them into
the sequence.

The preliminary task was more basic in terms of camera work because we had not been able to test and use the equipment before so we had little knowledge on how to perform different camera angles and shots and also how to edit the footage together. Doing the preliminary task gave use the practise and knowledge that we needed to do the main task properly with more complex and better camera angles and editing.

What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt how to use a
variety of different technologies when creating my sequence including Live Type
and Final Cut Express. These were some of the main technologies that I had to
use and allowed me to create titles and edit my filmed scenes together in a
professional and stylish way with special effects and music. Its amazing the
amount of features and how many things that you can do on these computer programmes and
how much you can change on the shots and how professional you can make it look.

The cameras that were used
were like nothing I have used before with very high quality high definition
picture that brings out the colours and crispness of the pictures. This was
really the only difference other than the amount of other features that the
cameras had as well as a larger level of zoom and being able to easily adjust
the position of the camera on the tripod.

Final Cut is a professional software that can be used to make lots of different edits and add sound, crop shots, add boxes, change speed, cut pieces out and much more. I have learnt how to use this software to a beginners standard so that i could perform most of the editing moves if i wanted to. Live Type works along side Final Cut so that i can make titles and text and edit it however i want by changing size, colour, length, font, blur... just about anything i could think of. The Live Type file then renders to the same format as is used in Final Cut so then its just a case of drag and drop into Final Cut. Here i can then edit the text further and put it into the film.